Innkeeper Chronicles - Sweep of the Heart (December 2022/January 2023)

[Choko]

Up to Ch. 5... The narrator does not bother me at all. I don't find any of the accents overwhelming and I am enjoying it so far. The Sphinx was an interesting addition to the species of the world. I wonder if he could become a friend...

Second chapter with the female werewolf warrior lady, and we still don't know her name... She better be careful with challenges from here on out, but I am sure her nature is going to push her towards recklessness no matter what...

[Choko]

I forgot, Space Chickens! Yay!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Car left my parking lot...

Heard noise in book again... slowed it down... I heard it at all speeds I tried (2.5x, 2x, 1.5x)... but at 1x, I was so distracted by the audio I couldn't tell... 1x sounds like a person talking slow because they thing you're stupid, after listening at 2.7x for so long... 1.5-2x isn't TOO much better, honestly (regarding slowness and the background noise equally, actually)...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Just to be clear... I can deal with these audio quality issues... just noting them, on what should be a pretty high quality modern release...

I've listened to some pretty low-quality audiobooks over the years... CDrips and Tape Cassette Rips of old Books on Tape from the 80s and 90s can be pretty deteriorated... I'll suffer through alot to listen to audio, since I have a much easier time with it than print/digital, these days...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Storywise, I'm loving it... passed where I left off on the ebook awhile ago, but paused alot today, and only to chapter 17...

(view spoiler)[The fight with the Corrupted Adhal, and the discussion afterward made a good point about how much Dina's power has grown since Costco... basically fuels my earlier points about how I think Dina & Maud & Klaus are halfway to Adhal status, being the kids of Innkeepers, and daughter of a man locked in stasis for a century...

Gertrude Hunt's current "growth spurt" is probably helping, too... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 18: (view spoiler)[What to make of the Ecclesiarch's moment of cunning?... Dina noted it, but other stuff is going on... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 19: Summaries: (view spoiler)[the person writing the summaries is getting more opinionated... and even mentioned the title of the book (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 22: (view spoiler)[I'm starting to imagine Caldenia is a Blogger/Influencer, for the Innkeeper Community, LOL... these summaries are killing me, in the British accent... (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ch. 9 ... (view spoiler)[ Gaston is marvelous when talking about his food:) And the kitchen staff adore him!

Speaking of adorable and totally untrustworthy, Cookie!!! Glad to see him again:)

I can't believe George and Sophie finally got married! And the way Sophie did it, by becoming a queen, was very fairytale-like:) I am happy for them:). (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ch. 10... Should I be trying to remember all those delegation species? This is too much to try and absorb at once. I hope we don't have a quiz...

[Choko]

Hahaha! The tree lady's speech was absolutely perfect!!!!!

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "The audio is out now, if anyone wants to read... I'm probably going to re-start it..."

Oh sweet! I'll be along this week.

[Choko]

Up to Ch. 21... (view spoiler)[ Well, this was a great ending to that pirate, but I am sure there will be vengeance for it...

Caldenia is the best! I have a feeling that she probably killed her brother exactly so her nephew would take the throne... I also wonder if he is her favorite nephew, or possibly a biological son of hers??? Just a thought...

The Lady vampires are very funny with all of their "exercise"...

I loved the "Bachelor" at the Inn so far:) Now I really want to know whom he chooses... I am hoping it's not the geisha lady. I know she is beautiful and cunning, but I would never sleep in peace if I have her in my household, let alone as a spouse! It's like sleeping with a viper...

I always feel terrible for all the ugly creatures... I did in the third book as well. They can't help it they are not born according to our perception of what is beautiful! And in most cases, they tend to be just another species trying to survive... And the fish people, dancing to remove the pain from others, it kind of broke my heart!!! I even felt sorry for the Space Elves, who are scholars and everyone was rude to them, because they were boring... I loved that the Space Chicken at least was able to appreciate them... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 24: the revelations about Caldenia weren’t too surprising, given the rest of the book so far…

Chapter 25: Mraize’s wife had me cackling at work tho… (view spoiler)[Costco Lady!!!… must not be any pictures on her knitting blog, or Dina would have known… (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Just to be clear... I can deal with these audio quality issues... just noting them, on what should be a pretty high quality modern release...

I've listened to some pretty low-quality audiobooks ov..."

I think it's fair to note. At this point, there really shouldn't be quality issues on audio books unless its by a new inde author with a low budget. Even then, you can buy great equipment cheaply on amazon these days. Older recordings get a pass - they just didn't have the technology we have 20+ years later.

[Narilka]

Choko wrote: "Ch. 10... Should I be trying to remember all those delegation species? This is too much to try and absorb at once. I hope we don't have a quiz..."

This might help: https://ilona-andrews.com/innkeeper-c...

Scroll down to Sweep of the Heart for reference photos of the selection candidates.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

End of book has short & long summaries of candidates

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Chapter 26 was great… culmination of so many elements… (view spoiler)[again I wasn’t surprised by the Wexlynn reveal, after her meeting with Caldenia earlier…

I think there’s a chance Kosandion will pick her/love… it’s the wrong choice as a ruler, but like that other guy said, this is probably the only decision in his whole life he can maybe choose for himself, rather than politics… will be sad if he does what Wexlynn thinks he will/should… (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Made it to chapter 28… Barsa… Barsa barsa barsa… barsa barsa barsa barsa…

Seriously, I’m worried (view spoiler)[this in on Charon is her parents… the missing Inn… (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

Ch. 24... I am so glad we were on the right track with all of that... It was kind of touching. I am so in love with Caldenia:)))

Ch. 25... Haha! Costco lady!!!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Finished... I actually spoiled the last reveal a few days ago... either clicking a Narilka spoiler, or something I saw in a review/etc... not sure... but it was still great

The final chapters were awesome... reveals, confirmations, new questions, etc etc etc...

(view spoiler)[I have so many questions about being titled The Wanderer... and what the Innkeeper Council DID back in 1775...

I feel like the developments here put more truth to my theories about Demilles being extra powerful because of their dad and growing up cocooned in an Inn is part of Adhal magic... (hide spoiler)]

The ending is a bit rushed, so the authors didn't have to flesh out what comes next, I assume... I wonder if the next book will be a Maud book... I kinda hope so... (view spoiler)[so much potential there, now that there's an easy connection to Getrude Hunt for visits... I'd assume a 2nd book would focus on complications leading up to a wedding? (I don't think they're married... been a bit since reading Maud's book, but Dina acts like they're not married yet)...

felt pretty triumphant when I was right about Kosandian & Wexlynn... and the Inn on Charon... I thought the grafting was a great idea... you can create some wild fruit trees in real life, through grafting...

Also didn't want to see the Bachelor plot drag out past this book, as much as I loved it... and I knew the authors would want to move on to new ideas... (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

Timelord Iain wrote: "The final chapters were awesome... reveals, confirmations, new questions, etc etc etc..."

No kidding! I loved how much was answered and now have a bunch more questions lol

Maud (view spoiler)[You're right. She's not married yet. I imagine we'll get a book or novella about that. (hide spoiler)]

[Choko]

I finished as well! Wow!

As you guys said, I was very glad that (view spoiler)[ we resolved the Bachelor situation. Yeah, I didn't love the choice in the beginning, but her ending up being a bad-ass priestess and actually having some feelings for him, made it a good solution.

The Tree People were absolutely hilarious! I loved everything about them! And the solution to their problem was perfect as well.

I was actually pleased with the way all of those were resolved. I felt so sorry for the guppy, and maybe their minor ask was the only thing that didn't seem to make sense with what we were given as their background. We are told that they are true prey animals, but somehow they had gotten rid of their carnivores hunters and now they have overpopulated their oceans and need the Dominion to reintroduce some predators or come and fish them, as population control? But they are terrified to even be near predators? Did I misunderstand that somehow?

I loved the new Inn as a permanent way to the planet where her sister and niece are, Charon! I also expect to see much more of them now:) (hide spoiler)]

Overall, I loved it! Everything about it! And I hope we continue getting those episodes of life in the Inn for a while longer:)))

[Nirkatze]

Nyssa wrote: "Sweep of the Heart has [spoilers removed]
And I am glad to know that [spoilers removed]! :D"

OMG I just started, and my first thoughts so far were pretty much exactly the same Nyssa! (view spoiler)[SPACE CHICKENS AND SILENCE FTW! (hide spoiler)]

And your description of your kitties... I love kitties... someday I will bring a kitty home... someday....

Also have to say... being back in the Innkeeper books is like a breath of fresh air...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Read a couple chapters at work today, like I said I would... I like the changes in format... there's a Character List somewhere in the book (didn't check it, yet)... and each chapter starts with a ..."

I'm really liking the format too. I'm listening to the audio, and the little "last time on Sweep of the Heart" bits at the beginning of each chapter really help me stay focused on the story, and give my brain a little jog of "oh right, that happened." I remember following along when the story was being serially published--I didn't read it, but I looked at all the fun pictures they put as the headers--SPACE CHICKENS!!--and saw the character lists, voting sheets, and other images. I might or might not have saved all the images so I could stick them in the ebook later.

If I remember correctly--didn't Dina host a bunch of SPACE CHICKENS for a debate in the last book? Two schools of philosophy debating which one predated the other? Ended up, *cough* being a chicken-and-the-egg type of disagreement...

Also, I maintain that SPACE CHICKENS!! is not spelled correctly if not in all caps.

[Narilka]

Nirkatze wrote: "If I remember correctly--didn't Dina host a bunch of SPACE CHICKENS for a debate in the last book? Two schools of philosophy debating which one predated the other? Ended up, *cough* being a chicken-and-the-egg type of disagreement..."

hehehehe you remember correctly.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think it was a space chicken holiday / holy day...

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "Up to Ch. 5... The narrator does not bother me at all. I don't find any of the accents overwhelming and I am enjoying it so far. The Sphinx was an interesting addition to the species of the world. ..."

I'm really liking the new narrator too--I remember being annoyed at the first switched narrator because of some of the voices--especially Nuan Cee--being very different from my preconceptions, but the only one I'm a little twigged at in this book is Gaston... I'm not overly fond of the Narrator's French accent. I keep trying to convince myself that Space French doesn't have to be the same as Earth French, and it's not like I'm a Francophile or anything anyway. But I like her voices for everyone else, and she's made me laugh a few times.

I laughed really hard in chapter 11, when Unessa introduced herself with a creeeeak hiss knock--the narrator's rendition surprised a laugh out of me! But I don't get why that makes them called Dushegubs...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Storywise, I'm loving it... passed where I left off on the ebook awhile ago, but paused alot today, and only to chapter 17 ..."

How powerful are ad-hal, exactly? Wasn't there something about paths Innkeeper children usually take--either try to be normal (and fail), become Innkeepers, or become ad-hal? And...is Dina's brother an ad-hal...? I need a refresher, though I'm glad, @Nyssa & Dina, for the confirmation that my memory was correct for SPACE CHICKENS!!

Definitely making me curious about how powerful things are...and @Iain's note about Dina's parentage too... (view spoiler)[I really like that this story is both a hilarious Bachelor story and also connected to the corrupted ad-hals--both a bunch of humor and some world expansion! (hide spoiler)]

Edit--oh, I just found your theory Iain! On board.

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Chapter 11: Unessa [spoilers removed]

ROFL"

I LOVED THIS WHOLE CHAPTER! (view spoiler)[Each candidate was so funny!

Jazz fins, Urinary Awareness... and harmony.

I also think this chapter was very meta--the whole spiel about how this contest is going on because it "lets the people feel involved" even if their candidate doesn't win--hey, that's us! We're the readers, those reading along with the blog as the chapters came out, giving feedback, lets the writers' audience feel involved...

I also like how this is like a mystery on different levels--who is assassins? Who does Kosandian already have in mind? (hide spoiler)]

I took that quiz Nyssa! I think I took it last summer too... both times I got #TeamFish... because that puppy needs to be taught urinary awareness...

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 15--okay folks! Time of truth.

Duty or happiness? Support your argument.

I think I would pick duty--but for me, fulfilling my duty is the path to happiness. I need a cause to thrive. (view spoiler)[Also, save the damn kid, Pivor. (hide spoiler)] It also begs the question: how do you define duty? What is happiness? Duty to whom, or what?

[Choko]

Nirkatze, you expressed my feelings exactly. Duty to family and friends comes first and that is what makes me happy. Without that, I would be flailing in the chaos of life...

[Nirkatze]

CHAPTER 15 OMG! (view spoiler)[WHAT IS BEST IN LIFE?

TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES!
TO SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU!
AND TO HEAR THE LAMENTATION OF THEIR WOMEN!

My friends and I memorized that from Conan a long time ago... none of us do good Arnold accents. >.< I love that the Otrakor have of course seen it!! LOL (hide spoiler)]

In fact, I love all the pop culture references--and this is the 2nd book in 1 week that had this following one... in Chapter 18 (view spoiler)[“I felt a great disturbance...” (hide spoiler)] the full quote was in the Heartseekers 1st book...

[Nirkatze]

Choko wrote: "Nirkatze, you expressed my feelings exactly. Duty to family and friends comes first and that is what makes me happy. Without that, I would be flailing in the chaos of life..."

So does that mean then, that we truly put happiness first, since duty is what makes me happy? XD I think First Scholar would enjoy this debate...

[Nirkatze]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Chapter 22: [spoilers removed]"

Oh I love that image! I mean, (view spoiler)[what else is Calendia doing with her time? I can see her doing live blog commentary for the Dominian smut pages... (hide spoiler)]

I think I managed to comment up to where I currently am now... I have no idea who Kosandian is going to choose! All of them seem pretty crazy... though I have to admit, part of me wants to choose Lady Wexyn... I mean, how can you resist these witty responses...(view spoiler)[Chapter 11: “Lady Wexyn, would you like to tell us how you would raise our child?” Kosandion prompted.

She smiled wider, her eyes innocent and clear, like a night sky lit up by starlight. “Of course. I will love them most of all, Your Majesty. They would be my favorite.”

Chapter 15: What is Love? She smiled back at him. A soft blush touched her cheeks. She glanced up at Kosandion. “Love is what I feel for His Majesty.”

And First Scholar's analysis!! Priceless! (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 23 LOL more fun quotes... Really coming to love Caldenia's commentary... (view spoiler)[It is a mystery wrapped in an enigma... I knew I'd heard that quote elsewhere... maybe Deadpool? but apparently the original is a Winston Churchill quote, describing Russia as "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma" (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Chapter 25--more LOL pop culture references! (view spoiler)[Caldenia critiquing Civ players: "Never get into a land war with a vampire. Especially during the Feudal period."

Did anyone else have a Princess Bride flashback? Vizzini: “You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line!' ” (hide spoiler)]

Just read @Iain & Choko's notes! (view spoiler)[Really liked Caldenia's backstory. Bittersweet. So glad she gets to see her niblings... I wonder if she can ever be re...what's the word... rehabilitated? reputation restored? something... so that she can go home and be an advisor...

LOVED COSTCO LADY! HAH! Also very glad that Dina invited her in to the Innverse. She showed her mettle before, it's good to know that our local neighborhood officer has his match. ^_^ (hide spoiler)]

[Narilka]

Re: Ch 25 - Yep, totally got the same reference you did :D I love that movie.

[Nirkatze]

Finished! I really loved this one too--this might even be my first 5 star Innkeeper book... I also really enjoyed reading y'all's final reviews! (view spoiler)[I loved the whole Bachelor storyline, and was also very happy with how things turned out! I really feel for the fish too... I hope we see more of them in the future. And I love that Costco Lady was back! A lot of callbacks to earlier stories (and I believe other books, though I haven't read them) and fun pop culture references. Lots of laughter.

I'm also glad that Unessa isn't getting eaten and that she gets to hang out with Sorakor. And that the bitchy vampires got their asses handed to them, politically. I'd definitely be very curious to see how things shape up in the next Maude book, with everything y'all pointed out...

I don't think I quite understood everything that was going on with the corrupted ad-hal at the end... corrupted innkeeper? What did happen to him, that was the council's fault? Was that something we learned about in the last book--the 1775 thing? Anyone have clarification? (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Narilka wrote: "Re: Ch 25 - Yep, totally got the same reference you did :D I love that movie."

Yay!!!

[Nirkatze]

Hmm.. typed these up before I finished on a different computer but never hit post...

Chapter 26--currently very glad I am #TeamFish--(view spoiler)[Jazz fins, Urinary Awareness, and managing to win Civ without INVADING ANYONE! Instead sending missionaries to build schools! That's awesome!

Also liking Lady Wexyn more... Been thinking about what Choko said on her being a choice for Kosandion himself... I really liked their date--but I do think she'd be an astute choice as well. The Civ game shows she would be an asset to a ruler--but also her emphasis on love and putting the children above all... the talk about the amount of resources that go into raising an Heir--sounds like she'd be very well suited to taking on that project.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 27--(view spoiler)[LOL I love the conference call post coup... with the former speaker's body being dragged across the room in the background and oops! didn't realize we're on camera! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I think Innkeeper Chronicles is riddled with Princess Bride references... always has been... even if I miss half of them...

[Celestial]

I'm on chapter 24, I'm loving it.

[Nirkatze]

Celeste wrote: "I'm on chapter 24, I'm loving it."

XD The worst thing about chapter 24 is, is that you know you're getting closer to the end... ^^;

@Iain--I was trying to think of all the different references throughout the book, but I could only think of the major obvious ones--Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, Princess Bride...

[Choko]

Those are the three I caught as well. Still, bunches and bunches of fun and readable goodness:)))

[Celestial]

Nirkatze wrote: "Celeste wrote: "I'm on chapter 24, I'm loving it."

XD The worst thing about chapter 24 is, is that you know you're getting closer to the end... ^^;

@Iain--I was trying to think of all the differe..."

It's ended for me tonight :'(((((( I can't wait for the next book lol

[Nirkatze]

Celeste wrote: "It's ended for me tonight :'(((((( I can't wait for the next book lol."

I feel your pain! ( ﾉД`). There've been some interesting predictions about what the next books will hold scattered around in the comments--(view spoiler)[I think Iain suggested next might be a Maude book, and that it might only take another two books for Dina to find her parents...!! (hide spoiler)]